Tell Me, Hinoka
by Deader than the Doornail
Summary: Castle Shirasagi is a big place for a little five year old like Princess Corrin. Though she's as eager for adventure as her older siblings, Corrin is still too small to care for herself; thankfully, she has her big sister, Hinoka, to look out for her. (Takes place before Corrin is taken to Nohr. Sister-bonding.)


**Disclaimer: The following fan fiction was inspired by the children's book, _Tell Me What It's Like to be Big,_ by Joyce Dunbar and Debi Gliori. Also, ****I do not own the rights to _Fire Emblem._**

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 ** _\- Tell Me, Hinoka -_**

 _Morning peeped through the window._ Corrin woke up with a start. She was lying in her bed with her back pressed against her big sister, her face turned to the open window. The sun was playfully poking her with its bright rays, causing Corrin to feel wide awake.

She sat up and looked around. Usually, Mother or Father would come to wake the girls for breakfast, but no one had come that morning. _They must still be sleeping!_ thought Corrin with some amazement. She could not remember a time when she had been the first one to wake. She felt big and proud, not like a five year old at all. No, today she was Princess Corrin, and she was a grown up!

Immediately, Corrin decided she would get up and find herself breakfast — that was certainly a grown up thing to do. Before she left the bed, however, she leaned very far over to see whether Hinoka was also awake. Corrin wasn't sure if she wanted company on her first morning as an independent woman; it did not matter, though, because Hinoka's eyes were firmly shut.

As quietly as she could, Corrin tumbled over her sister and out of bed. With little difficult, she found her clothing — a pink tunic and sandles — laid out on a nearby chair. Ignoring the shoes, she put the tunic on this way… and that way… until it was just right. Sighing in satisfaction, Corrin turned back to her bed and pulled a very small, very ragged doll from the covers. _Even grown ups have companions,_ she reasoned. With a smile, she marched proudly towards the door.

It was easy for the small girl to sneak through the halls and down the stairs to the kitchen — even easier than getting dressed! There were some servants already up and bustling about their work, but it was too early for anyone to be upstairs near the bedrooms, and too late for anyone to be downstairs in the larder.

Corrin and her doll slipped inside the larder, and Corrin gasped. She had always known where the food was kept and that it was a separate room from the kitchen, where the food was prepared; but she had never been inside the larder before. _Everything was so high!_

"I can't reach anything!" Corrin cried, forgetting her previous efforts to be quiet. She tried very hard to reach some cheese that had obviously been put aside for someone's breakfast. She reached this was… and that way… But Corrin couldn't reach.

Next, she tried to reach for the jug of milk that she shared every morning with her brothers and sisters. She reached this way… and that way… But Corrin couldn't reach.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Corrin exclaimed, her eyes tearing. How terrible it was to be small!

Corrin hugged her doll tightly, wondering what to do now. Crying was making her ever so hungry, and the sight of food — especially as it was out of reach — made her appetite grow and grow until Corrin thought she might die. But who would reach for her?

 _Hinoka!_ Corrin spun on her heel and zipped back up the stairs. She was so quick and so silent, padding along on her little bare feet, no one saw her or heard her; even her doll, bumping up the stairs behind her, bounced soundlessly over the floor. Corrin returned to her room and saw her mother and father still hadn't come to wake her and Hinoka. With a huff of annoyance at her parents' laziness, Corrin approached her sister.

"Hinoka, Hinoka!" Corrin whispered sharply, shaking her sister as she chanted. "Hinoka, Hinoka!"

"Hm…! What?" Hinoka whined back.

Corrin paused, realizing that it would be very rude of her to wake her sister. With a quiet cough, Corrin asked as sweetly as she could, "Are you awake?"

"I am now!" Hinoka cried.

"Oh good!" said Corrin, beginning to grin. "I'm hungry!"

"Then go and get something to eat."

"I can't reach," Corrin admitted shyly. "Will you come and reach for me?"

Hinoka sighed. "Fine," she murmured. "Hand me my clothes."

"Hurray!" Corrin exclaimed, clapping her dolls hands together before scurrying to find Hinoka's clothing. She found a tunic just like her own, though bigger, sitting in a chair opposite the one where Corrin had found her clothing. She picked it up and rushed back to the bed, throwing the soft tunic onto Hinoka's lap.

"Please hurry," Corrin said, trying to be polite but whining again. "I'm so, so, so hungry!"

Hinoka laughed and ruffled her little sister's hair. "I am hurrying! But I need help tying this sash. Mother always ties it for me."

Corrin glared at the bit of red cloth that Hinoka had picked up off the floor and was now trying to knot around her waist. Corrin shook her head. "I don't like it! You don't need it. You can just wear your pink shirt, like me!" And Corrin pointed to her own plain tunic.

Hinoka sighed. "Fine, I'll leave it until Mother wakes up."

Corrin shifted her doll to one arm and gave her free hand to Hinoka. Together, the two little girls slipped out of their bedroom and down the stairs, passing quiet and unseen once more into the larder. Hinoka reached the cheese and milk without any trouble, and even managed to grab some bread by climbing up on the counters. Corrin found a knife and two peaches which had rolled off their perch and onto the floor. She brought everything to Hinoka, who sliced the bread and cheese, then peeled the fruit with the knife. Finally, they sat down and ate their meal.

Both girls felt very big and proud for their adventure. To think they had made themselves breakfast! Certainly they would have a lot to tell Mother and Father when they woke up, and they could brag all day long to Takumi and Ryoma. They weren't babies anymore — _they were grown ups!_

Corrin fed her doll some fruit, and watched as Hinoka cut for herself another slice of bread. Corrin had asked to use the knife, but her sister would not allow it. "Wait until you're big, like me." she had said. That had dampened Corrin's pride a little, but she was too proud of her sister to be angry.

Suddenly, Corrin asked, "Hinoka, tell me what it's like to be big."

Hinoka looked at her little sister. She put the knife on the floor and chewed her bread slowly, thoughtfully. Then she said, "Well, when you're big like me, you can reach your own breakfast!"

"Will I?" asked Corrin, feeling a bit unsure. She couldn't wait to be as big as Hinoka, but that seemed such a long time away. "What else can I do when I'm big?"

"Well…" Hinoka thought for a short time. "You'll be able to practice sword-fighting, like Ryoma."

"Will I?" asked Corrin excitedly.

"Yup! You can play with swords, and lances, and bows, and anything you want when you're big!"

"Can you play with all that stuff?"

"No… Not yet." And Hinoka sniffed sadly.

Corrin continued to eat, feeling much more hopeful and happy about her prospects. With her mouth full of cheese, she asked, "Will I ever be bigger than you?"

"No way!" exclaimed Hinoka. "You'll never be as big as me or Ryoma."

"Why not?" whined Corrin.

"Because we got started first, and we'll keep on growing big, too."

"Oh." Corrin thought about this. "Then, I'll always be bigger than Takumi, and Takumi will always be bigger than Sakura?"

"Yup!" said Hinoka, smiling. "You got it!"

"Okay!" Corrin didn't mind this, as long as she was bigger than somebody. "Tell me what else I can do when I'm big."

"Well, you'll be able to go wherever you want!" explained Hinoka.

"Really? Where?" Corrin asked, eyes wide.

"Anywhere you want! If you want to play in the kitchen, you can play in the kitchen; if you want to play in the hall, you can play in the hall; if you want to play in the garden, you can play there, too!"

"Even when it rains?"

"'Specially when it rains!"

"Wow!" Corrin grinned again. "Will I be able to bring whatever toys I want out in the rain? Mother says I can't bring my favorite blocks, because they'll get ruined, but I know they won't!"

Hinoka laughed. "You won't have toys when you're big!"

Corrin fell silent. She hugged her doll tighter, and stroked its hair against her cheek. "… Hinoka?" she whispered. "I don't ever want to be big."

"Why not?" asked Hinoka, sounding surprised.

"Because I always want my toys!" exclaimed Corrin, her eyes tearing again. "And if I'm big, I might have to do grown up things."

"Like what?"

"Like do things all by myself. Or go places all by myself. Or be in the world _all by myself!_ I don't ever want to be alone!"

"You don't have to be alone!" said Hinoka, getting up to hug her little sister. "You can keep your doll, and you'll always have us!"

"Who?" asked Corrin.

"Your family! Ryoma, me, Takumi, and Sakura, and Mother and Father, too — we'll make sure you're never alone!"

"Really?" asked Corrin. "Even Sakura? She's just a baby!"

"But she's already learning to talk. She'll keep you from getting lonely."

"Okay!" Corrin grinned. "But for right now, I just want to be small and for Mother to hold me."

"And I just want to be medium and for Mother to hold me, too." said Hinoka. "Let's go see if Mother's awake."

Hand in hand, the two little girls trudged back upstairs and to their parents' room. Their father was already up and gone, training somewhere outside; but Mother was still in bed, sound asleep. As politely as possible, Corrin poked her cheek.

"Oh…? Oh!" Mikoto exclaimed, staring at the two girls. "It's very early morning for you to be up," she said, smiling. "Is something wrong?"

"No," said Hinoka, feeling suddenly shy.

"We just wanted to know…" said Corrin slowly, "what was it like for you to be small?"

Mikoto laughed. "Well, when I was a little girl and I woke up too early, I would climb into my mommy's bed and go back to sleep."

 _So they did._

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 **Ending note: I hope you enjoyed this story. Thank you for reading, and please, let me know what you thought through reviews or favorites.**


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